Austria's creation of a wind-down unit for a former state-owned bank and reclassification of some public enterprises will significantly increase general government debt in 2014. We expect that Austria will continue measures to achieve balanced accounts by 2017 at the latest, and that major Austrian banks will keep strengthening capital buffers to better withstand external shocks. We are therefore affirming our 'AA+/A-1+' ratings on Austria. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that potential tax reform will not have a material impact on the government's fiscal stance. On Sept. 26, 2014, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AA+/A-1+' long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Austria. The outlook is stable. The ratings on
